


A Risk

by rainydayadvocate



Category: DC Elseworlds, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, First Dates, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 00:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17777300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainydayadvocate/pseuds/rainydayadvocate
Summary: Lois is having a rough time getting her story edited and sent off Perry. First it's Cat giving her grief, and then it's Clark's teenage cousin, attempting to play matchmaker. But, hard as it is for Lois to admit, Kara Danvers may know what she's talking about.Supergirlprequel, set about 10ish years before Season 1.





	A Risk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [klutzy_girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy_girl/gifts).



> I wanted to go back in time to when Lois and Clark were first starting to fall in love; I feel cheated that we don't get to see it. I hope you enjoy this nudge into their early relationship!

Lois drummed her fingers against her desktop, staring at the pitiful headline at the top of her next story: _SUPERMAN SAVES THE DAY!_

“Wow, Lois. I knew your craft was starting to smell like last month’s milk, but this? Uninspired is too nice a word.”

“Oh, go away, Cat. Go find a mouse to chase,” Lois said as she stood, pacing behind her desk chair. “I’m well aware it’s bad.”

Cat stirred her coffee and leaned her hip against the side of Lois’s desk. “Knowing it’s bad and being capable of fixing it are two different skills.”

“Charming,” Lois replied. “Don’t you have some social event or visiting rich child to cover?”

“Oh, please.” Cat laughed and flicked her coffee stirrer onto Lois’s keyboard. “I know it’s hard for you to remember, but I’m city beat now, too. And last I checked, who had the most front page stories this month? Let me see, let me see...was it the unstoppable duo of Lois Lane and Clark Kent? No! It was Cat Grant. And you know who it’s going to be next month? Cat Grant.”

“Cat, I’m warning you—”

“And by the end of the year, people are going to be asking Lois who?”

Lois’s fists were as tight as they could be. Her nails weren’t long enough to leave marks in her palms, but her muscles stretched painfully across her knuckles. The thought of Cat on the floor with a trail of blood dripping from her nose was oh so tempting, notwithstanding the suspension that would follow it. And the possible anger management classes.

But she was saved from her physical impulses by the arrival of her partner. “Wow, Miss Grant. I think that’s a bit premature, don’t you? After all, Lois is still an award-winning reporter, and Superman does tend to talk to her more than the rest of us.” Clark pushed his glasses up his nose and made a bit of shrug.

Cat clicked her tongue and put a hand out to hover six inches from Clark’s chest. She performed this ritual about once a week—the desire to touch what all the women (and half the men) in the office assumed were perfectly chiseled muscles underneath those perfectly-fitted, plaid-printed, dress shirts. But she never did it. Either she thought better of it, or Clark backed up out of range. She pulled away first that day. “Your have a point. But, Clark, whenever you’re ready to share a better byline, you know where to find me.”

“Uh, thanks, Miss Grant. I’ll keep that in mind.” Clark smiled, but Lois recognized it as his polite smile, the kind of politeness only bred into American midwesterners. Whether Cat bought it or not, she walked away, letting Lois breathe a sigh of relief.

“I almost decked her.”

“I know. Your jaw twitches when you think about it.” Clark raised a hand to his jaw, brushing just above the pulse line. “Actually, you may want to train that out. It could become a giveaway on an undercover assignment.”

“When you’re right, you’re right.” Lois spun her chair around so she could take her seat again. Staring across at her from Clark’s desk was a blonde teenager. Her eyes were the same piercing color as Clark’s, but she looked more confused than Clark had on his first day. “Uh, Clark? Do you have a visitor?”

“Oh! Lois, I’m sorry. Lois Lane, meet my cousin, Kara Danvers. Kara, this is my partner, Lois Lane.”

Some of the confusion melted into a smile and Kara leaned forward to shake Lois’s hand across the desks. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lane.”

“Oh, please. It’s Lois.”

“Okay, Lois.” She beamed as if Lois had just told her a secret. “Kal—lark is letting me stay with him for the weekend. I live in Midvale and I’ve never been to Metropolis.”

Well, that explained the wide-eyed look. Lois could only imagine what it must be like, growing up somewhere as small as Midvale and having Clark Kent as the _cool_ older cousin.

Clark reached into his desk for his wallet. “I was about to get us some lunch from Mario’s. Lois, you want your usual sandwich?”

“Extra pickles.”

“Always.”

He waved as he left, leaving Lois to stare at her terrible headline again. It was terrible because she wasn’t on the scene until after the fact and Superman hadn’t stuck around for a quote. The article was decent, full of excellent first-hand accounts and great quotes, but they hadn’t inspired her headline. After she’d erased the headline, for the third time, the spinning of office chair wheels told her she had a visitor. Kara scooted right up next to her, the fear and confusion completely gone from her expression. She folded her arms on Lois’s desk and rested her chin on top of them. “You know Clark likes you, right?”

Lois blinked. Clark had been gone maybe thirty seconds and suddenly she was at a sleepover. “Huh?”

“A lot. He’s just too shy to say so. Trust me.”

While this teenage matchmaking session was adorable, Lois needed to put it to bed. She shook her head and smoothed down the hair in Kara’s ponytail. “I can tell you’re just looking out for your cousin, but we’re just partners. Besides, I kind of have my eyes on someone else.”

Kara rolled her eyes so thoroughly, Cat would’ve been proud. “What, Superman? You and thousands of other women. And sure, you’re closer than they are. He probably knows where you live, maybe even a few of your favorite foods or outfits. But do you know where he lives? How he makes a living? Whether or not he has any fashion sense? If he even lives in Metropolis? If you’re, you know, _compatible_?

“Kara!”

“I’m just saying!” She put her hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying, Superman is a whole lot of question marks and my cousin is right here. Sure, he looks like a nerdy farmer, but you’ve seen him cleaned up, haven’t you? He doesn’t always look like that.”

The first image that could’ve come to Lois’s mind was that tux he wore to the city banquet last fall. Or that designer suit he borrowed for their undercover work with Intergang. But it wasn’t. The first image that came to mind was Clark, back in Smallville, working the farm, wearing Wranglers and a t-shirt from high school. She had to take a deep, slow breath to stop that memory from getting out of control. “No. He doesn’t always look like a nerdy farmer.”

“Well, take it from me, he’s interested, and he’s not going to do anything about it, so you should.”

“What makes you think I’m interested, hmn?”

Kara scooted closer and cupped her hands over Lois’s ear for a whisper. “Because you calmed down the moment he started to speak.”

What kind of crazy perceptive teenager was this? Lois could try to deny it, but she was a terrible liar. His meek ability to de-escalate situations had started out charming, and now it was all Lois needed to relax. She was always calmer when Clark was around. “I’m not sure I like you, Kara Danvers.”

Kara giggled and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “You don’t mean that, Lois. You seek truth. I’m just helping you find it in the Daily Planet bullpen.”

Clark saved Lois from thinking up a reply by dumping a box of food on the end of her desk. “I hope I got enough food. Lois, here’s your sandwich and a coffee from the cart downstairs with half an order of fries. Mario wasn’t sure if he put enough pickles on, so there’s a side of pickles, too.” He passed it all to her. “Kara, I got you a Metropolis-sized slice of pizza, garlic fries, and spaghetti and meatballs.”

Kara immediately scooted her chair back to Clark’s desk to dig in. Clark pulled up a chair and started into his meatball sub, mozzarella sticks, and two slices of pizza. “You mean she eats just as much as you do?” Lois asked, comparing the obscene amount of carbs the cousins were consuming.

“More, sometimes,” Clark said. Kara blushed, but only shrugged.

They ate in silence, enjoying the unhealthy accumulation of Italian food between them, giving Lois a chance to look over her headline again. After a few iterations, she finally settled on: _SUPERMAN BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO DESOLATE NEIGHBORHOOD_. When she hit the submit button, she knew it wasn’t front page news, but she also knew Perry wouldn’t find fault with it.

Having consumed everything except her slice of pizza, Kara stood up. “I think I want to go introduce myself to Miss Grant. She writes modern-day feminism better than anyone and I want her to _teach me her ways._ ” Kara crosses the bullpen to Cat’s desk, but pauses long enough to wink at Lois. Ah ha, so Kara was purposefully leaving them alone. How nice of her.

A date puts their partnership at risk. A date could quickly turn into feelings that’d affect their careers. A date could ruin the closest thing Lois had to a best friend. And yet, she heard herself ask, “You know, after Kara goes home, maybe we could go grab a bite together.”

Clark’s head shot up so fast he threw his glasses askew. “What? Lois, we do that all the time. Every day, in fact.”

“I know. But I was thinking we put on some nice clothes and go to a nice restaurant, do our best to not talk about work.”

This time, Clark’s knee banged into the corner of his desk. “A date, Lois?”

She hesitated, her heart thudding a thousand beats a minute, making sure she knew what a catastrophically bad idea this was. “Yes, Clark. A date.”

He didn’t respond right away. After a moment, he nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”


End file.
